THEY came together in an hour of need.
Army personnel, gardai, nurses and fire officers worked through the night with volunteers to restore Letterkenny General Hospital to something resembling normality.
The new Emergency Department was under water within minutes.
One patient described the ‘dreadful noise’ as a river came flooding into casualty – but staff acted with complete professionalism throughout.
This morning most of the flood waters have been cleared away.
But it has, once again, raised serious questions over how the hospital can’t cope with major downpours.
To be fair, it’s estimated that 50mm of rain fell within an hour over Letterkenny yesterday evening.
Hospital Manager Sean Murphy spent the night with his team and the other agencies as the hospital was cleared of debris.
“We are doing everything we can to minimize the impact on patients,” he said.
“We are able to use the day surgery and outpatient facilities as these areas are not used over the weekend.
“I want to acknowledge hospital staff, the fire service, the council, the army and the gardaí for working with us to try and manage this very difficult situation,” he added.
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